Mechanical card shuffler



Aug. 2, 1955 R. c. OPPENLANDER ET AL 2,714,510

MECHANICAL CARD SHUFFLER Filed June 12, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 f (M HMHllll-lllll Il lllll o I I I I I I I INVENTORS Richard C. Oppenlonder 8John O. Rowley Jr.

ATTORNEYS,

United States Patent 2,714,510 MECHANICAL CARD SHUFFLER Richard C.Oppenlander, Englewoorl, and John C.

Rowlcy, In, Denver, Coio., assignors, by mesne assignments, to RoccoProducts Inc, Minneapolis, Minn., a corporation of Minnesota ApplicationJune 12, 1950, Serial No. 167,574 Claims. (Cl. 273-149) This inventionrelates to mechanical card shufiiers and more particularly to one of thetype which will remove cards from a single stack or pile in an alternatemanner and direct them to two different separate places.

One of the objects of the invention is to produce a mechanical cardshuflier of the type referred to which will be economical tomanufacture, simple and easy to operate, and eflicient and dependable inits shuflling functions, regardless of the varying thicknesses of cardsas present- 1y manufactured.

Another object is to produce an improved means in a mechanical shufllerwhich will insure the removal from a stack of cards of a single cardonly by a predetermined rotational movement of a segmental cam memberhaving a friction surface.

Still another object is to provide an improved gap structure forinsuring that the bottom card only of a pile of cards will be removedwhen acted on by a force causing it to slide in the direction of theplane in which it is positioned.

A further object is to produce an improved arrangement of segmental cammembers having frictional surfaces for causing alternate cards from apile of cards to be moved in opposite directions by a continuouslyrotated member.

A still further object is to produce improved means for removing a cardfrom the bottom of a pile of cards and placing it in a compartment belowand at one side of the pile.

Yet a further object is to so construct a compartment for a pile ofcards and associate therewith rotatable members for acting on the bottomcard of the pile weight means for acting on the top of the pile thatsuccessive single cards can be efficiently removed from the bottom ofthe pile by a continuous rotation of the rotatable member.

A further object is to produce a mechanical shufiler for cards that canbe folded into a compact structure having a neat appearance when theshuflier is not in use.

A still further object is to produce a mechanical shuffler for cardswhich embodies a central compartment and card receiving compartments oneach side thereof with the side compartments being so constructed andpivotally mounted that they can be folded over the central compartmentto reduce the overall dimension of the shuflier When not in use.

Other objects will become apparent from the following description takenin connection with the accompanying drawings showing a card shufilerembodying my invention.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a top view of the card shufiler with its top open and readyto receive a pile of cards for shuffling, said view having some partsbroken away to show details;

Figure 2 is an end view of the shufl'ler shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of a part of the shuffler withcards therein and the weight thereon, said view being taken on the line3-3 of Figure 1;

nude

2,714,510 Patented Aug. 2, 1955 Figure 4 is a side view with certainparts broken away so as to show the gearing and other details;

Figure 5 is an enlarged sectional view showing the gap arrangement; and

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the shuffler folded up.

Referring to the drawings in detail, our improved mechanical cardshufiier has a central casing structure having rear and front walls 10and 11, side walls 12 and 13, and a bottom 14, with the rear and frontwalls being higher than the side walls.

In the upper central compartment C at the central part thereof is asupport plate P which has a width approximating one-third of the lengthof the compartment. This support plate is mounted in the desiredposition by support legs 17 and 18, suitably secured to the bottom 14 ofthe casing structure, as can best be seen in Figure 3. The compartmentC, as thus ing of the pile of cards in the compartment, portions of thefront and rear walls of the casing structure are provided with notchesor openings 19 and 2t] and the upper marginal portions of the panels 15and 16 are flared outwardly so as to permit easy entry of the pack intothe compartment. The notches 19 and 20 are to allow for parts of thehand which holds the cards during the placing of the pile in thecompartment to be free of any interference by the walls. The compartmentC is arranged to have a lid L which is pivoted to the rear wall 10 byhinges 21.

The casing on each side of the compartment C and at levels below thecompartment is arranged to have associated therewith two card receivingcompartments R and R The compartment R has a bottom 22 and three sidewalls 23, 24 and 25.

The compartment is open at the top and the opposed side walls 23 and 25have their free ends pivotally conthe casing structure this function.

The outer wall 24 of compartment R has a cut out opening 28 and suchjoins with a notch 29 in the bottom wall. The opening so said pile canbe easily grasped and lifted out.

The other receiving compartment R is a. duplicate of R and isconstructed with a bottom 30, and side walls 31, 32 and 33, with theside walls 31 and 33 connected by pivot pins 34 and 35 to the front Wall11 of the casing structure, and a gearing casing structure attached tothe rear wall 10 to be hereinafter referred to. The side wall 13 of thecasing structure forms the other wall for the receiving compartment R Anopening 36 in side wall 32 and a communicating notch 37 in the bottompermit a pile of cards in the compartment to be easily grasped by athumb and finger.

The receiving compartments R and R are so formed and pivoted to thecasing structure that they can be folded over the casing structure asshown in Figure 6 when the shufl'ler is not in use. Thus there will beproduced a compact boX-like form. The walls 24 and 32 of thecompartments overlie the lid L of the central compartment C and therebyhold the lid in closed position.

When the compartments are swung outwardly the bottoms thereof willassume nearly horizontal positions, such positions being determined bythe engaging of the inside edges of the bottoms with the side walls ofthe casing structure. With the outer sides of the compartments slightlyhigher than the inner sides a space will be provided below eachcompartment so that the grasping of cards in the compartment will befacilitated and not interfered with by the table surface on which theshufiler sets.

Beneath the support P for the central part of the compartment C andextending crosswise through the box are three parallel shafts 38, 39 and40, said shafts being suitably journaled in the walls 10 and 11 of thecasing structure. The two outer shafts 38 and 39 are positioned on thesame level below the central shaft 40 and these two outer shafts arearranged to be substantially directly below the side panels of thecompartment C. The shafts 38 and 39 are arranged to be rotated inopposite directions and this is accomplished by the rotation of thecentral shaft 40 and suitable gearing mounted on the ends of the shaftswhich project beyond the rear wall 1%. As best seen in Figures 1 and 4,the projecting end of the central shaft 40 has a gear 41 mounted thereonand meshing with a smaller gear 42 mounted on the shaft 38. The shaft 38also carries a gear 43 which meshes with a gear 44 on the shaft 39. Thegears 43 and 44 are of equal diameter and thus the two shafts 38 and 39will always be driven at the same speed but in opposite directions shaft40. The central shaft is arranged to be manually rotated by means of acrank structure 45 which is made by bending an extended portion of theend of the shaft 40 which projects out of the front wall 11 of thecasing opposite the gearing. The gearing can be enclosed by a suitablecasing structure 46.

The shafts 38 and 39 are arranged to carry the means for engaging a cardat the bottom of the pile in compartment C and removing it therefrom.After one card has been engaged and removed, the succeeding bottom cardwill be engaged and removed. Cards removed from the bottom of the pilewill alternately be directed in opposite directions. Thus every odd cardwill move to one receiving compartment and every even card will move tothe other receiving compartment. To accomplish the removal of bottomcards, the shaft 38 has secured thereto two segmental members 47 and 48and the shaft 39 has secured thereto two segmental members 49 and 50.The members 47 and 48 on the shaft 38 are on opposite sides of thesupport plate P at the bottom of the compartment C and likewise themembers 49 and S0 areon opposite sides of said support plate. Thesesegmental members have arcuate surfaces 51 extending over an angle ofapproximately 129 degrees and these surfaces are the ones which willengage the surface of a card and remove it from the bottom of a pile inthe compartment C. Each segmental member has a rubber covering providedby a rubber band 52 suitably held upon the edge of the member to thusprovide the arcuate portion with a good friction surface capable ofnon-sliding contact with the smooth surface of a card. The radius of thearcuate surface of the segmental members will be such that the bandsurface will extend slightly above the plane of the support plate P,thus insuring that the arcuate friction surface of each segmental membercan fully en age with a card surface and pull it from beneath the pilein compartment C.

Particular attention is called to the construction of the segmentalmembers and the manner of application of the rubber band. These membershave a hub 53 Whereby attachment to the shaft by a set screw isaccomplished. This hub carries a thin plate 54 on one side of which isattached a curved piece 55 having the desired arcuate surface. Therubber band 52 is then placed on this curved piece 55 and as can be seenin Figure 3 the by a rotation of the central 4 band will then notencircle the shaft. This will permit mounting of the band on thesegmental members after such are placed on the shaft and the shaftmounted. A band can be replaced at any time without removal of a shaftor a segmental member.

The two segmental members 47 and 48 on the shaft 38 have like positions,as do also the segmental members 49 and 50 on the shaft 39. By likeposition is meant that the arcuate surfaces have the same radialposition on the shaft. However, the segmental members 47 and 48 will beso arranged on shaft 38 and with respect to the segment members 49 and50 on the shaft 39 that as the shafts rotate in opposite directions oneset of arcuate surfaces will engage the bottom card and pull it outduring the period in which the other set of arcuate surfaces iscompletely out of engagement with any card. Thus, the segment members onone shaft will be active in pulling a card while the segment members onthe other shaft will be inoperative, and then as these latter se mentmembers become operative the first mentioned segment members will becomeinoperative, having completed the pulling of a card from the bottom ofthe pile.

A very important feature of our invention is the gap arrangement wherebya single card only can be pulled from the bottom of a pile of cards inthe compartment C. This gap arrangement is associated with each end ofthe support plate P. As shown in Figures 2 and 5, the panel 15 of thecompartment C has its lower edge spaced some distance above the platewith the exception of its central part. This part has a downwardlyextending finger 56 of somewhat V-shape with a rounded lower end. Thislower end of the finger member is positioned in spaced relation withrespect to the end of the support plate to provide the gap G. It will benoted that the gap G has a short width, which width will be a very smallfraction of the length of a playing card. The space between the finger56 and the top surface of the support plate P will be slightly greaterthan the thickness of a playing card, but will be less than thethickness of two playing cards. This spacing has been found, for allpractical purposes, to be somewhere between .015 and .018 inch. In asimilar manner the other panel 16 of compartment C has secured thereto adownwardly extending finger 57, which is identical with the finger 56and this finger defines, with the opposite end of the support plate, agap G identical with the previously described gap G created by thefinger 56 and the support plate.

In order to supply added weight on the bottom card of the pile of cardsin the compartment C and thus insure that the bottom card will bepressed downwardly with sufficient force to create the desiredfrictional engagement of the segment members, particularly when the pilebecomes small, there will be provided the weighted member W. Thisweighted member has a curved shape and is arranged to be carried on theend of a wire arm 58. The wire arm is V-shaped with the legs thereofhaving out-turned projections so as to form the hinge pins for thehinges 21 of the lid and also pivot means for the weight and arm. Theweight is so attached to the closed end of the U-shaped wire arm that ithas a sloppy connection and thus the weight will always be free to havea limited universal movement with respect to the wire arm. This is veryimportant since it is necessary that the weight follow the movement ofthe pile of cards as the segmental members are rotated and cards arecaused to be engaged and removed from the bottom of the pile. During theremoval of the cards, the pile will rock back and forth, due to the factthat segment members onone longitudinal side of the pile will act uponthe pile and raise it slightly at this side and then the other segmentmembers will act on the opposite longitudinal side of the pile and raiseit somewhat. The raising of the pile is caused by the fact that segmentmembers during acting on the pile, project slightly above the topsurface of the support plate P as can be seen in Figure 3. During thisrocking of the pile of cards it is necessary that the weight continue toact fully upon both sides of the pile and thus it is seen that toaccomplish this the weight should be mounted for limited free universalmovement. In order that the weight will be raised with the lid L, theunderside of the lid has a hook 59 so as to catch one leg of the wirearm as the lid is raised. The hook is so arranged that the arm andweight are not picked up by the hook until the lid is partially opened.This arrangement also allows the arm such free movement that the weightcan follow the top of the pack down to the plate P.

As the cards move through the gaps G the trailing edge of a card mayhave a tendency to be kicked up by the action of the segmental members,just as it leaves the gap. To prevent this and insure that the card Willnot overturn as it goes into a receiving compartment, each gap hasassociated therewith deflecting members 61) (see Figure These membersare attached to the outer surfaces of the panels and 16 and have anoutwardly extending lower edge 61 associated with the fingers formingthe gap. The edge is slightly above the lower end of a finger, thus acard when it comes through the gap will be held horizontal and as itstrailing edge leaves the gap it is prevented from having a turn-overmovement. It will also be noted that the top edges of the side walls 12and 13 are curved inwardly toward the ends of the plate P so that aleading card edge will easily pass over these walls Without catching.

From the foregoing description it is believed to be obvious how theimproved mechanical shuffler operates. A single pile of cards will beplaced in the compartment C, the lid L raised and also the weight W. Thecards can be easily placed in the compartment by grasping them with afinger at one end and a thumb at the other. The two notches l9 and 2d atthe ends of the compartment will then receive the finger and thumbduring the placing of the cards on the support plate P. It is to benoted that the lid L at the hinged edge thereof is provided with anarcuate recess 19' for additional finger clearance when placing thecards on plate 1. The lid is now closed and the weight W swung so itwill rest on the top of the pile of cards. Now, to perform theshufi'ling, the crank will be turned so that the shaft ll) rotates inthe direction indicated by the arrow in Figure 3. This will result inthe two shafts 33 and 3% being rotated, as well as the segment memberscarried thereby. Consequently, first the segmental members carried bythe shaft 38 will engage the bottom card on the pile and remove itthrough the gap G and into the receiving compartment R Shortly afterthis card is removed from the bottom of the pile by the segment members4-7 and 43 the segmental members 49 and 5b will assume positions wherethey will engage the bottom card, which has replaced the bottom cardjust removed, and cause this card to be shifted through the other gap Ginto the receiving compartment R As the crank is continued to berotated, cards will then be taken from the bottom of the deck and movedfirst in one direction and then in the opposite direction until. all thecards of the pile have been removed. When this occurs half of the cardswill be in the receiving compartment R and half in the compartment R Thecards will then be properly mixed into two piles in the receivingcompartments and can be put together and dealt. The shufflingaccomplished by the shufiler will be the reverse of that usually done byhand. in hand shufiling, a pack of cards is separated and then, ifperfect shuffling is performed, the cards in one pile will bealternately inserted between the cards in the other pile to produce asingle pile.

During operation of the shuffler it is to be noted that the central partof the pile of cards only is supported and the Weight acts on the pileto maintain the bottom card firmly against the support plate and withsufiicient force on the pile of cards that a good friction contact cantake place 1: C so that a card being and having a dimension throughbetween the segmental members and the bottom card. As a bottom card ispicked up by segmental members, the ends of the cards will be pushedupwardly slightly, but the center of the card will be maintained againstthe support plate and thus the card can move through the gap G.shuffling could not be efficiently accomplished if the finger formingthe gap G was not so constructed that the gap had a very small widthwith respect to the length of the card. If it were attempted toconstruct the compartment removed from the bottom of the pile had tomove through a long slot, then it would be practically impossible to getthis card through the slot since a part of it would no doubt bedeflected (during pulling operation) out of line with the slot and thecard could then not go through the slot. With the gap having a verynarrow width with respect to the card length and a weight acting to holdthe bottom card so it will always be presented to the gap properly, thenwhen the card is acted upon by the friction members with suificientfrictional grip to pull a card, it will easily move out of thecompartment C into a receiving compartment. This gap arrangement alsopermits cards to be shuflled whether new or used and it used, regardlessof whether they have been bent somewhat by hand shufliing. in theoperation of the shufiier, the bottom card is always hunted into a gap Gby operation of the rotating segmental members before these membersbegin to act to raise the pile in compartment C. As segmental membersinitially engage a card they shift said card laterally and into the gap.As they continue to rotate they lift the pile slightly and this relievesthe weight of the pile from the plate P and places the weight on thesegmental members, thus increasing the friction between the segmentalmembers and the bottom card with the result it will be easily forced onthrough the gap.

When the shufller is not in use the compartments R and R can be foldedover the compartment C and the casing structure with the compact boxform shown in Figure 6 resulting. Dust and dirt will then be kept outand a smaller size structure is present for storage or carrymg.

Being aware of the possibility of modifications in the particularstructure shown without departing from the fundamental principles of ourinvention, we desire it to be understood that the scope of the inventionis not to be limited in any manner except in accordance with theappended claims and structure equivalent to that set forth.

What is claimed is:

1. In a mechanical card shufiler, a support member for a pile of cards,a member cooperating with the support in spaced relation directly abovethe top surface of the support for defining a gap centrally of thelength of one side of the pile of cards when placed on the support, saidgap being in length a fraction less than onefifth of the length of saidone side of the pile of cards which a card can pass only slightlygreater than the thickness of a card, means acting against the bottomcard of the pile on each end portion only thereof to move the bottomcard in the plane thereof through the gap, and means comprising avertically positioned plate projecting from a point at the gap outwardlybeyond the gap for preventing a card from moving upwardly from the gapafter being moved therethrough.

2. In a mechanical card shufiler structure having a central compartmentfor receiving and supporting a pile of cards, means defining gaps onopposite sides of the supporting part of the central compartment throughwhich a card can freely pass from the bottom of the pile, card receivingcompartments at opposite sides of the central compartment, positionedbelow the level thereof, and being open at the top, rotatable memberspositioned beneath the central compartment for so frictionally acting onthe end portions of the bottom card of a pile of cards placed thereinthat cards will be alternately moved into the card receivingcompartments at the sides thereof,

and means in the form of vertically positioned plates extending from theopposite sides of the central compartment at points beginning at the topof the gaps and projecting toward the receiving compartments forpreventing upward movement of a card as it is moved from the centralcompartment to a receiving compartment.

3. In a mechanical card shuffier, a structure having a centralcompartment for receiving and supporting a pile of cards, a cardreceiving compartment having a bottom, side Walls and open top at twoopposite sides of the central compartment with the bottoms positionedbelow the support level of the central compartment, rotatable memberspositioned beneath the central compartment for so frictionally acting onthe bottom card of the pile that cards will be alternately placed in thecard receiving compartments at the sides thereof, each of said cardreceiving compartments having openings in its side wall remote from thecentral compartment and also a companion opening in the bottom to permita finger and thumb to be placed in grasping position above and below apile of cards received in the compartment and thereby allow for easyremoval of the pile, and means for pivotally mounting the receivingcompartments to the shuffler so that they can be swung to positionswhere portions of the side walls willoverlie the central compartment tothereby make a compact article when the shuffier is not in use, saidlast named means comprising ears on the compartments extending along theouter surfaces of the end walls of the shufiler and pivot pins for theears.

4. In a mechanical shuifler, casing structure having a centralcompartment provided with end and side Walls for receiving a pile ofcards, card receiving compart-- ments positioned on each side of thecentral compartment and each having a bottom and side walls but beingopen at the top, means for moving cards from the bottom of a pile ofcards in the central compartment into the receiving compartments in analternate manner, and

means for so pivotally connecting the ends of the receiving compartmentsto the casing structure having the central compartment that thereceiving compartments each can be swung so that a side wall is in anoverlying position with respect to the central compartment and otherside walls are at the end walls of the central compartment when theshufiler is not in use and thereby decreasing the overall length byapproximately one-half.

5. In a mechanical shuiT'ler, casing structure having a centralcompartment for receiving a pile of cards, a hinged top for the centralcompartment, card receiving compartments positioned on two oppositesides of the central compartment and each having a bottom and three sidewalls but being open at the top and one side, means for moving cardsfrom the bottom of a pile of cards in the central compartment into thereceiving compartm nts in alternate manner, and means for so pivotallyconnecting the two sides of the receiving compartments which have endsadjacent the open outer surfaces of the end Walls of the casingstructure having the central compartment that the receiving compartmentscan be swung to enclose the central compartment when the shuifier is notin use, and when in such enclosing position there will be a side Wallfrom each receiving compartment overlying a portion of the hinged top ofthe central compartment. and thereby making a compact article andmaintaining the hinged top in closed position.

References Qited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,014,219 Hall Jan. 9, 1912 1,184,196 Michell May 23, 1916 l,955,926Matthaey Apr. 24, 1934 2,048,942 McConnell July 28, 1936 2,159,958 SachsMay 23, 1939

